The present invention relates to dispensers and more specifically to test strip dispensers and thermometers useable in sanitary and typically food preparatory environments.
Hereinafter, in order to simplify this explanation, it will be assumed that a food service worker uses a rag and a liquid sanitizer solution located in a bucket to clean countertops in a restaurant or cafeteria kitchen. In addition, it will be assumed that the service worker uses a thermometer to periodically check sanitizer solution temperature as well as food temperature. Nevertheless, it should be appreciated that the present invention can be, and is intended to be, used in any application where liquid based sanitizer solutions having specific sanitizer potencies and temperatures are required as well as where specific food temperatures are required. For instance, the invention may also be used to check solution characteristics in a restaurant sink filled with a water-sanitizer solution, in a commercial dishwasher that uses a sanitizer solution, etc.
Water is often used for cleaning purposes. As well known disinfecting effectiveness of water can be enhanced by adding certain chemical sanitizers to the water to provide sanitizer solutions and by maintaining the solutions at known effective temperatures (e.g., typically high temperatures). Most sanitizer solutions are effective or are most effective only when the sanitizer solution has at least a minimum level (e.g., 100-200 parts per million) of sanitizer therein and when the solution temperature is within a specific range. In the case of temperature, while heat often increases cleaning effectiveness, in the case of at least some sanitizers, too high a temperature can reduce sanitizer effectiveness and therefore, solution temperature has to be within a range between high and low temperature limits. Recognizing that solution effectiveness changes over time as the solution temperature drops and with use as sanitizer is used or debris is deposited into a solution and recognizing the importance of ensuring clean environments in certain industries (e.g., restaurants where bacteria and germs can cause sickness), municipalities and, in some cases, businesses, have adopted specific codes or rules that require sanitizer solutions to be optimally used. That is, codes/rules often require that sanitizers be used according to instructions provided by the sanitizer manufacturer where the instructions specify sanitizer potency (e.g., amount of sanitizer per gallon of water resulting in a suitable parts per million count) as well as a required temperature range.
Similarly, recognizing that food should be stored at temperatures within certain ranges to ensure freshness and that food should be cooked or prepared at certain temperatures to ensure complete cooking thereby avoiding sickness, municipalities and businesses have adopted codes and rules that specify food temperatures during storage and preparation.
Knowing that sanitizers of specific types, in specific minimum potencies and within certain temperature ranges are required by code/rule, when a kitchen counter top in a restaurant, cafeteria, lab, etc., is to be cleaned, a food service worker charged with maintaining clean countertops will initially draw a quantity of water into a bucket where the water is at a known temperature that is within a suitable temperature range given a cleaning sanitizer type to be used and will dispense an amount of cleaning sanitizer into the water that results in the required sanitizer potency. Potency can initially be ensured through proper measurement of water and sanitizer. A thermometer can be used to ensure proper temperature or, where available, water may be drawn from a temperature controllable faucet. Thereafter, the food service worker dips a rag into the solution in the bucket, rings out the rag and uses the wet hot rag to wipe down and clean/disinfect the counter top.
In many applications the food service worker repeatedly uses the sanitizer solution in the bucket during prolonged cleaning activity (e.g., 1 hour). During prolonged cleaning activity the food service worker repeatedly dips the rag into the solution to remove dirt/debris therefrom, rings out the rag and reuses the rag and solution to wipe down other surfaces. Here, while the solution temperature was initially high (i.e., hot), during the prolonged activity, the solution temperature typically drops thereby reducing cleaning/disinfecting effectiveness.
In addition, in many cases, cleaning/disinfecting sanitizer temperature within a solution changes during use. For instance, in many cases the sanitizer may interact with debris deposited in the bucket thereby rendering the sanitizer less effective for its intended purpose (e.g., cleaning and disinfecting). As another instance, the sanitizer may simply evaporate over time or may be removed from the solution and deposited on the surfaces being cleaned. The end result is that during prolonged use, solution temperature and sanitizer potency often drop to levels below those required by codes/rules. In these cases, codes/rules require the food service worker to either dump the current solution and mix a new solution or to add sanitizer to and/or increase temperature (e.g., add more hot water) of the existing solution.
To facilitate code/rule compliance, tools have been provided to check sanitizer potency in a solution as well as solution and food temperature. For instance, one tool for checking sanitizer potency includes a small paper test strip (e.g., ¼th inch by 1½ inch) that is impregnated with a chemical known to interact with the cleaning sanitizer in a solution and to turn different shades of a certain color as a function of the potency of the cleaning sanitizer in the solution being tested. Here, for instance, when a strip is dipped into a solution, the strip may turn one of first, second, third or fourth different shades of gray when an sanitizer A in the solution is within first, second, third or fourth ranges of potency, respectively. After dipping a strip in the solution, the resulting strip color is compared to a potency scale that includes a color scale correlating different shades of gray to different sanitizer potencies. Here, by associating strip color with a most similar scale color, sanitizer potency is identified. After a test strip has been used, the strip is typically discarded.
To check solution temperature, the food service worker may use a hand held thermometer. Here, the Food service worker holds a distal end of the thermometer in the solution for a short time and then determines solution temperature via reference to the thermometer. Where a test strip or the thermometer indicate that sanitizer potency or solution temperature are below required minimums, the Food service worker knows that some action is required prior to using the solution for additional cleaning purposes to bring the solution back into code.
The same thermometer used to check sanitizer solution potency can be used to check food temperature. In this regard, sanitizer solution having a potency required by code/rule, even after being used to sanitize a countertop or other food preparation surface, operates to sanitize the thermometer which renders the thermometer safe for food temperature testing.
In the case of the test strips, test strips can come in many different forms. For instance, test strips can be provided as separate strip material. As another instance, a roll of test material may be provided where a tester is required to tear off a piece of the roll to provide a separate test strip. As still one other instance, a ribbon of test material may be provided where perforations are formed at equispaced locations along the length of the ribbon to distinguish one test strip from the next and to aid in separating one test strip from the ribbon. Here, the ribbon may be provided in a roll form or, in the alternative, may be folded along the perforations in an accordion type fashion during storage.
Because compliance with codes requires a food service worker to routinely use strips and thermometers, the food service worker should carry the thermometer and strips along during cleaning activity (i.e., it is impractical to expect a food service worker to travel to some remote testing location each time the food service worker attempts to test potency and temperature). Here, in at least some cases a small container (e.g., a box or canister) that fits in a food service worker's pocket and that includes a cover may be provided that forms an enclosed space for receiving the test material or strips. When a strip is required, the container top is removed and a strip is obtained from within the space. Here, the container provides a storage space and protects the strips or strip material inside the space from water and from being crushed.
To carry a thermometer, sheaths have been provided that form a passageway for receiving a thermometer shaft. Here, in some cases, a clip is provided on the external surface of the sheath for clipping the sheath to a belt, a shirt or pant pocket, etc.
The test strips and thermometers described above operate well to check sanitizer potency and solution temperature. Unfortunately, known ways of facilitating transport/providing both strips and thermometers have several shortcomings that make it inconvenient to test solution potency and temperature as well as to test food temperatures. Where testing is inconvenient, compliance is less likely. First, food service workers are already typically overburdened with tools that are required to perform other tasks and often carry those tools in pant and shirt pockets. Where strips and a thermometer are separate and located in a food service worker's pocket, requiring the food service worker to fumble through his pocket separately for each of the strip container and the thermometer is inconvenient. In many cases, a food service worker may have wet hands, hands with small pieces of food thereon or even hands with bacteria/germs thereon such that placement of his hands in a pocket to locate strips or the thermometer is not only uncomfortable but is also unsanitary. By requiring a food service worker to carry two additional tools, a strip container and a separate thermometer, current ways to facilitate sanitizer potency and temperature testing are clearly burdensome.
Second, requiring a food service worker to remove and replace a cover on a strip container each time sanitizer potency is to be tested is often messy and can result in contamination of other strips or material in the container that are to be used subsequently. In this regard, often a food service worker engaged in a cleaning process will have water or some other liquid chemical on his hands when attempting to retrieve a strip from the container. Here, where the food service worker has to insert one or more fingers in the container to retrieve a strip, liquid or moisture from the food service worker's fingers may contaminate the other strips and render the other strip useless for future testing.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus wherein both a thermometer and strips could be stored and protected at the same time. In addition, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus that couples a strip container to a thermometer so that when the apparatus is accessed, both the thermometer and the strips are accessible for sequential use. Moreover, it would be advantageous if an apparatus having the above characteristics were shaped to facilitate comfortable placement within a shirt or pant pocket or, in at least some cases, to be clipped onto a belt or the like.